Changes in strategy brought about by the addition of Fagbenle are amplified by the loss of Berry, last year’s starting point guard and co-captain. Lacking a pure point guard with experience, Delaney-Smith has decided to change up the offensive system.

“It’s traditional if opponents see that [sophomore Ali Curtis is] a first-year point guard or that Kit [Metoyer is] a freshman to try to work the point guard and find a vulnerability, so that’s why the ball is not going to be in our point guard’s hand that much,” Delaney-Smith says. “We’ve been working on ball handling so that more than just our point guards have to handle the ball against pressure, and it’s working.”

While the team’s tactics have changed this offseason, its goal is the same as it has been for years: beat Princeton. Last year, the Tigers topped the Crimson by 28 and 30 points in two matchups en route to winning a third straight Ivy League title. This preseason, they were predicted to finish first once again.

“Princeton’s always in the back of your head, knowing they’ve won the title every year that everyone has been here,” Golen says.

But after becoming the first Ivy team to win a postseason game with a WNIT victory last year, the squad has the confidence to take down the Tigers this season.

“We opened a small door, and we want to open a bigger door this year,” Golen says. “We think if we get [to the NCAA tournament], we can really make some noise, but we have to focus on the season first.”

—Staff writer Jacob D. H. Feldman can be reached at jacobfeldman@college.harvard.edu.